RESULTS: 2017 Andorra World Cup Downhill Race

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We've probably said this 428 times this week, but the Andorra World Cup was a display of downhill mountain bike perfection this week and race day was no different with an exciting, steep track, flawless conditions and extremely close racing. Rain drops and dark clouds flirted with the emotions of the Top 20 but thankfully had no impact on the race.

Crashes plagued the top Elite Men. Jack Moir, Laurie Greenland, Connor Fearon, Amaury Pierron, and George Brannigan all pushed past the limit which proved that a successful run was not a given by any means.

Mark Wallace remained consistent and collected resulting in a long-held hot seat. Then Danny Hart came down with the wildest, most reckless run we've seen since Champery World Champs, holding it together to claim the hot seat by almost 6 seconds. Loic Bruni followed Danny and looked like he was half asleep during his run compared to Danny. Loic calmly hit each section with precision and by the finish line was only .033 behind Danny. The contrast in styles when compared to the results is mind-blowing. If you want to impress someone with what DH should look like, show them Danny's run. Looking wild, however does not mean pure speed.

Aaron Gwin seemed to take the Bruni approach with a clean and aggressive but not-too-ragged run and came down in 3rd behind Danny and Loic, just .15 seconds off with three riders to go. The differential between 3rd through 5th was so close.

3rd place qualifier, Loris Vergier had a disappointing run (at least from our point of view), then Greg Minnaar dropped the hammer. He took the Santa Cruz 29er down the steep, tight course to a 2.1-second lead with only one rider remaining, Troy Brosnan.

Troy Freaking Brosnan, with all the pressure of the MTB world on his shoulders kept his run aggressive, but tidy. His split times were always within milliseconds of Minnaar's, but Troy nailed the final turns while Minnaar bobbled there. Brosnan crossed the line, earning his first World Cup win of 2017 by just .22 seconds. Incredible!

The 27.5 vs 29er debate rages on. For tighter, twistier tracks, it seems that the bike fitting the rider is more important than just wheel size.

Myriam Nicole took a convincing win on semi-home turf by three seconds over Tahnee Seagrave in Elite Women. Fastest qualifier, Tracey Hannah was on a winning run through the first two splits but threw it away with a crash, finishing 9th. Tahnee Seagrave earned a solid 2nd place and Marine Cabirou hopped on the Elite Women's podium for the first time ever with bronze. Rachel Atherton returned from shoulder injury taking a 4th place.

Finn Iles and Matt Walker continue to push each other but Finn took a significant victory in the Junior Men's category by nearly 5 seconds - and a time that would have earned him 7th place in Men's Elite. The kids are most certainly alright...